Academic Success

With Faith, Knowledge, and Joy as its motto, St. John Academy (SJA), a Catholic elementary school of 280 students, has welcomed and educated families from the Washington Metropolitan area for more than fifty years. These virtues encapsulate the SJA approach to education. Through faith, children are taught to believe that while they are unique, they are called to a series of relationships that include their family, school, and primarily, a personal relationship with a loving God. Knowledge includes the education of the entire person. Through joy, SJA desires to inspire in each child a love of learning, self-sacrifice, charity, and service to others in the Christian tradition.

SJA Terra Nova test scores have consistently ranked the school in the top 10 percent of the country, and graduating students are regularly accepted into the area's top private high schools. Throughout the school, emphasis is placed on the fundamentals of reading, writing and math. SJA provides Algebra I, and Latin in middle school as well as Spanish in grades one through eight. Both Algebra I and Spanish enable students to obtain high school credit. A resource center is available to support students who have learning or language difficulties. A part-time counselor is on hand to address issues as needed. SJA offers both pre-school and Extended Day programs. The excitement and enthusiasm found at SJA is centered on the children. Every decision is weighed against benefits to students and their learning. Key components to an engaging learning environment are the technologically updated classrooms with ActivBoards. These are complemented by state-of-the-art science and computer labs, a 14,500 volume library, and an art studio. A music room and gymnasium are housed in a separate building. Outside, a new playground has been installed.

SJA students participate in many competitions and have won first, second, and third place awards in the Virginia National Spanish examination, the It’s Academic competition, the VFW’s Patriot’s Pen Contest, the Diocesan Spelling Bee, and the Diocesan Geography Bee. The school recently placed first in the Take Stock in Virginia Stock Market Game, and SJA band students have consistently received superior ratings in the Diocesan Band Festival.

The Spelling Club is open to Grades 5-8 and provides an opportunity for students to reach greater levels of competency in spelling. Study skills training is available to help students meet the demands of middle school and prepare for the increased rigors of high school. An enrichment program for the seventh and eighth graders allows students to refine their analytical and critical thinking skills.

Student growth extends well beyond the classroom. SJA students form the habit of service to others in many ways, including raising money for special projects in Kenya and Burkina Faso, collecting food and clothes for the needy in the Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas, and participating in events to honor U.S. soldiers. In addition, SJA sponsors an underprivileged student from South America. These experiences are enhanced through involvement with organizations such as George Mason University Center for Outdoor Education, SHARE, Alpha Omega Counseling Service, and Legionnaires of Christ.
SJA is proud of its faculty, many of whom have been instrumental in developing the diocesan curriculum in their area of expertise. SJA teachers attend professional development courses and continually assess their teaching practices. Teachers create goals for the year, which align with areas of need pinpointed by their incoming classes’ Terra Nova scores, and share their strategies with the teachers who previously taught students in each incoming class. Inspiring and engaging lesson plans that support curriculum-based learning objectives are created by SJA teachers.

SJA is the first diocesan elementary school to form an athletic department. The program is grounded in the belief that both the soul and body are crucial components to the formation of the “whole” person. In its first basketball season, the boys and girls basketball teams competed successfully against area private schools. In addition, soccer and lacrosse are offered. These teams help promote spirit and unity.
Through Faith, Knowledge and Joy, SJA believes that it is imperative for every student to graduate with the academic skills necessary to become an effective member of society, and to possess the moral courage to follow his or her conscience as formed through the joint efforts of parents, church, and school. For over fifty years, SJA has successfully fulfilled these goals.

St. John Academy’s Assessment Results in reading and mathematics:

SJA administers the Terra Nova Achievement Test (Terra Nova) by CTB/McGraw Hill. Terra Nova is a comprehensive test that measures individual and school achievement across a broad array of core curriculum areas, including reading and mathematics. The reading test measures the range of skills that includes reading comprehension, language expression, and vocabulary and reference skills. These are the skills necessary for effective communication. The mathematics test questions allow students to solve problems using different strategies. Computation, estimation, critical thinking and problem solving skills are all tested in the mathematics test. An Individual Profile Report (IPR) and a Home Report are supplied by CTB/McGraw Hill. The IPR report helps teachers assess individual student’s strengths and areas of need. It uses objectives-level (criterion-referenced) scores to help determine instructional priorities and norm-referenced scores to compare achievement with the norm group. The Home Report presents information for parents and guardians in an easy-to-understand format to assist them in understanding and becoming more involved in their child’s learning.

The Terra Nova has been administered at SJA since 1993. Testing was historically administered in the fall of each academic year. Beginning in the 2004-2005 academic year, SJA began administering the test in the spring, in conformance with the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. The Terra Nova scores listed are based on the National Percentile of the Mean Normal Curve Equivalent (NP of the Mean NCE).
The test results serve as a testament to SJA’s dedication to academic excellence. The school has consistently achieved outstanding scores when compared to the average test scores of the other schools in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia and when compared to national norms. Additionally, for grades three through seven (the grades for which a “cutoff” score was posted by the U.S. Department of Education), the school exceeded the 90th percentile “cutoff” score for every grade level. Finally, the results also reveal that four out of the five grades tested in both reading and mathematics achieved the statistical designation of “significantly above average,” as defined by the test publisher, with the other two results falling in the “slightly above average” category. Specifically for the seventh grade, reading and mathematics scores were 19 and 24 points above the 90th percentile of National School Norms. A summary of scores for grades 2-7 (all grades tested) for reading and mathematics is included in Section VII – Assessment Results. The test scores found in Section VII have not been disaggregated for any sub-groups, because no sub-group in any class represented 10 or more students.

Teachers use the results of the Terra Nova test as one of the determining factors in selecting students from seventh grade for the Algebra I program. Algebra I is a challenging high school level program for eighth graders. Students taking this course can obtain high school credit.

In addition to the Terra Nova test, teachers use the “Accelerated Reader,” an individualized reading program, to assess students in reading. Students set personal reading goals and then take a test which measures their comprehension of the reading material. SJA uses the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) in kindergarten and first grade. This test is used to assess students’ levels in phonics, vocabulary, and reading comprehension at the beginning of the school year. The test provides a baseline from which to measure each student’s reading progress and identifies instructional needs for individual students. PALS helps the early detection of reading problems and thus affords the opportunity to tailor literacy instruction to build a strong reading readiness foundation for reading success in all students.

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